Keep listening to the scientific consensus

During such long, cold winters like this one, it's hard to believe that the Earth is warming; but it's a fact. How do we know? Not because we observe specific climate changes ourselves, but because climate scientists tell us so. Climate scientists are the doctors of the climate. They are the experts who know when the climate is sick and its health is in danger.

We should believe them for the same reason that we trust medical doctors when they diagnose us. True, we may seek second opinions, but if all the doctors come to the same conclusion, we believe them and take action to preserve our health.

From November 2012 to December 2013, 9,135 out of 9,136 climate doctors gave the diagnosis that the climate is getting sick and human carbon pollution is the main cause. Just as we can't diagnose our own illnesses because we're not educated in medical science, we can't look out the window and diagnose the climate ourselves.

There are specialists who spend their lives studying climatology, examining the frequency and trends of weather systems over thousands of years.

Let's listen to them.

Eric Johnson

Oxford

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Keep listening to the scientific consensus

During such long, cold winters like this one, it's hard to believe that the Earth is warming; but it's a fact.